Low Down

Based on the novel "The Brief History of the Dead" by Kevin Brockmeier, this is an interesting and engaging four-hander exploring the realm after death in an apocalyptic vision of life and beyond.

Review

Based on the novel "The Brief History of the Dead" by Kevin Brockmeier, this show generates a unique atmosphere reminicent of  "What Dream May Come" and even Dante's take on the afterlife. A blind man in the "place between" wrily observes: "I thought I'd be able to see when I died, but I guess that's just another lie they tell you in church." 

The transfer from page to stage works well in an adaptation that leaves the essence of the book intact whilst managing to successfully create a real sense of both bemusement and acceptance of those who have "crossed."  Where we go after this place of transition is not made clear which creates a wonderfully eerie sense of impernanence.

A man-made virus has wiped out most of the planet disturbing the usually functional symbiotic balance between the "dead" and the "living". We are introduced to a world somewhat similar to our own, a transitional after-death realm where "we survive as long as they remember us, as long as they survive."
 
In some ways that situation comes across as hopeful and chilling at the same time. This place we "cross over to" is a place of afterlife "newsheets", mysterious meta-heartbeats, and reunions with old friends. However, the virus on earth means too many people are crossing and no one is left behind to rememvber them... 

Plunket and Joyce are at an Antarctic station, looking for untainted water for Coca Cola as the world dies around them... This is fascinating material, well chosen, well written, not always delivered with consistency from a theatre skills point of view. Not all of the entrances and exits are as fluid as they ought to be, and the group really need to sought out their backstage "curtain". From where I was sitting, there was full view of the backstage busyiness and the light interfered with the onstage atmosphere. Also the soundscape of thunder often made some of the lines inaudible. Such things need to be timed in so as not to drown out the words.

I think this piece will get sharper and tighter as the run progress. What lifts the piece into a four-star show is not slick stagecraft but the teamwork shown in the performances, the physical and verbal commitment, and the sheer interest of the material. Many ideas are explored in this piece. It's a quirky take on the hereafter which has both humour and depth of view. And the acting is mostly up to the mark, the physicality works well in the Antarctic scenes, the characterisations are competent.

This is a young, inventive group to watch out for in the future. Go see them at the Gilded Balloon if you're up for an original take on the hereafter.

Reviewed by PL 8th August 2007

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